The present invention relates generally to apparatuses for painting traffic marks on road surfaces and, more particularly, to an apparatus for painting traffic marks on road surfaces which is stable due to its three dimensional gantry system and more accurate due to an automatically operated by an input program. In this manner, the present invention allows a user to easily paint traffic marks on a road surface without professional skill for painting traffic marks.
Recently, there has been an increase in traffic volume as well as in the number of automobiles and kinds of traffic lines. Kinds of traffic lines may include yellow median lines to divide roads into two directions, white dotted lines to divide roads into several lanes, and blue lines for buses, etc., have been painted on road surfaces.
To paint such traffic lines on road surfaces, various traffic line painting apparatuses have been proposed. An example of a conventional traffic line painting apparatus is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 depicts a sectional view showing a conventional apparatus 1 for painting traffic lines. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the conventional traffic line painting apparatus 1 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional traffic line painting apparatus 1 includes a jet nozzle control unit 10 for painting a traffic line, and a paint heating unit 30 which is integrally supported on a support frame 40 to heat paint to lower the viscosity of the paint to make it suitable for painting. Four wheels 51, 52, 53 and 54 are rotatably coupled to the support frame 40 or an outer casing 38 of the paint heating unit 30.
The support frame 40 includes a lower frame 43 having a long elliptical shape, and a handle frame 45. The paint heating unit 30 is mounted on the center of the lower frame 43. The jet nozzle control unit 10 is supported on a front end of the lower frame 43. The handle frame 45 extends from a rear part of the lower frame 43 rearwards and upwards, while a handle 47 is formed on an upper end of the lower frame 43.
The paint heating unit 30 has a burner 32 which is provided on a lower part of the paint heating unit 30 and uses a fuel, such as LPG, to be supplied from a gas tank 31. An oil tank 35, in which a thermal oil 34 is contained to heat the paint supplied from an outside painting carriage through a paint supply pipe 33, is provided above the burner 32.
The paint supply pipe 33 is coupled to an inlet of a heating pipe 36 which is coiled in the oil tank 35. An outlet of the heating pipe 36 is coupled to a lower end of the jet nozzle control unit 10. The oil tank 35 is installed in the outer casing 38 which collects and discharges combustion gas to the outside through an exhaust hole 37. Opposite curved parts 36a of the heating pipe 36 are exposed to the outside. The heating pipe 36 has a separable structure to facilitate repair when a breakdown occurs.
A thermometer 39 is provided on an upper part of the outer casing 38 to indicate the temperature of the thermal oil 34. A thermal air path unit 41, which communicates with the oil tank 35, protrudes outwards on the upper part of the outer casing 38.
The burner 32 burns LPG supplied from the gas tank 31 to heat the paint heating pipe 36. Thus, paint, supplied to the heating pipe 36 through the paint supply pipe 33, is heated to a temperature suitable for painting while passing through the heating pipe 36 in the oil tank 35.
Thereafter, the paint is supplied into the jet nozzle 25 via the jet nozzle control unit 10 and an active pipe 14. In this state, when a user pulls a control lever 49 provided on the handle 47, the jet nozzle 25 opens to spray the paint onto the road surface.
The conventional traffic line painting apparatus having the above-mentioned construction is suitable for painting linear and curvilinear lines. However, it is very difficult to paint various traffic guide marks on road surfaces for indicating various information to drivers, for example, letters, signs and pictures, etc. Thus, with the conventional traffic line painting apparatus, painting traffic marks depends on the painting skill of the user. Therefore, if the user is not a skilled expert, painting traffic guide marks may be impossible.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,268, as shown in FIG. 3, depicts another example of the prior art. The '268 patent discloses an apparatus for applying a traffic stripe. The apparatus includes a vehicle having a pair of front wheels and a pair of rear wheels and members, disposed on the vehicle, for steering the front wheels. There is a traffic stripe applying system, disposed outward of the front wheels and adjacent to one of the front wheels, for applying a traffic stripe to a road. A connector pivotally connects this applying system to the vehicle and defines an axis about which the applying system pivots relative to the vehicle. In addition, connected to the applying system, disposed forward of the pivot axis and acting in response to the steering of the front wheels, is a member or members for turning the applying system in the same direction as the front wheels when the front wheels are turned. The turning member or members may also turn the traffic stripe applying system at a greater angle than the front wheels when the front wheels are turned in a direction towards the applying system.
The prior art discussed is lacking in that the machine used to draw the markings typically paints under its center. As such, painting a center line requires two lanes of traffic to be tied up during the painting process. The present invention, solves this problem by providing an apparatus that allows the painting jet unit to extend one length of the apparatus from the center. In this manner, only one lane of traffic is required to be shut down during painting, as opposed to two lanes.
In each of the prior art embodiments, the act of painting traffic lines is manually executed, thus increasing the working time required for painting the traffic lines or marks. As well, conventional traffic line painting apparatus are problematic in that shapes and sizes of the painted traffic guide marks or lines may be uneven and subject to human error.